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{
    "id": 1077075,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1077075/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 281,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nambale, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Sakwa Bunyasi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2511,
        "legal_name": "John Sakwa Bunyasi",
        "slug": "john-sakwa-bunyasi"
    },
    "content": "Kshs1.8 trillion and when we include A-in-A, it will be over Kshs2 trillion, has made us go with big strides to Kshs3.66 trillion Budget. This huge Budget that we have is attractive at the time of presentation. What we, as Parliament, must look at is whether it is achievable and at what cost will it be achievable? Two, who will fund it? That should be the first question. It will go through taxation. Even if you borrow, you are delaying the time when you will tax Kenyans. My first concern is the degree of realism. Despite the confidence which was expressed by prior speakers, I still have serious concerns. We cannot afford the estimates of the revenue and size of the Budget this year. In fact, the National Treasury has not followed the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, a three year rolling plan. You project three years ahead. The first year is your Budget, when the Budget is over, you move another year out. So you are always three years ahead. That gives a perspective. You see where you are going and can direct yourself where you are going. When that is thrown into chaos or is not followed, you do not put radar that will guide you to where you are going. It becomes year to year and that accompanied by frequent changes we get in Budget Estimates, makes it difficult, even for the Committee, to stand back and say the size, the likely impact and what is going to be the requirement to fund it in terms of tax obligations. We muddy it through. That is something we must confront directly. Ignoring the Medium Term Expenditure Framework is a very serious issue. We should not do this simply for the analysis of external reviewers like the IMF and others, but we should do intrinsically to help us as a nation to move within the limits that we can reasonably afford."
}